1996 Starcraft Islander 191v blower motor mystery

[Ktaadn]

Hi Everyone,
I recently acquired a 1996 Islander 191v with a MerCruiser 3.0lx. The boat is mechanically in good shape, but does have a few odds and ends that need to be addressed. One of the most important is that I can't seem to find the blower motor. I know this can be dangerous, so I'm not starting the motor until I can resolve the issue. I have parts available to me locally, but I haven't figured out what to buy yet.

There are two 3-inch "clothes dryer" type hoses coming from both the port and starboard side vents. The starboard side both appear to be cut as they enter the top starboard side of the doghouse interior. One of the port side hoses ends similarly, with the other draping down closer to the bilge on the port side. Throwing the blower motor switch on the dash produces no motor noise.

Before I start tearing into side panels to trace the hoses and wiring, can anyone give me a clue on where the blower motor is supposed to be mounted? I imagine these had an inline blower (as opposed to the "turbo" looking blowers), but I'm not sure to which hose it should be attached. Or, were there two blowers, port and starboard?

I appreciate any help this crowd can send. I did some forum searching, and there appears to be a wealth of knowledge available. I didn't find an answer to this specific problem, though.

Thanks!

 

[jbcurt00]

@Watermann

 

[Watermann]

There should be one inline blower motor in the middle between the hose in the bilge and the air discharge thought the clam shell vent on the side. Normally the blower motor is mounted to the transom from what I've seen on these boats.

 

[Ktaadn]

There should be one inline blower motor in the middle between the hose in the bilge and the air discharge thought the clam shell vent on the side. Normally the blower motor is mounted to the transom from what I've seen on these boats.

Ok, thanks for the clarification. I'll dig into it a see what I can find. It's a big help knowing there's just supposed to be one.

Are the other three hoses just for makeup air?

Thanks again!

 

[Scott Danforth]

one side is incoming air, the other side is outgoing air

this is critical for initial start

once the motor is started, it is a much bigger air pump than the blower could ever be

 

[GA_Boater]

The blower should be in the lowest hose, the one drawing exhaust air almost under the motor where gas fumes would gather. Inline blowers are not as big as the squirrel cage type and take up less room.

With 4 hoses, your Islander has both active and passive venting. Active with a blower in one exhaust hose when stopped or slowly moving. Passive has a similar low exhaust hose and vents the lowest bilge area when the boat is moving.

I know some of our Inlander guys had engine room pics showing the hoses and blower, but darned if I can find any. If you have the clam shell vents, intake air is through the forward facing vents, exhaust is the rear facing ones with the blower in one of them.

Welcome aboard and hope this helps.

 

[Ktaadn]

The blower should be in the lowest hose, the one drawing exhaust air almost under the motor where gas fumes would gather. Inline blowers are not as big as the squirrel cage type and take up less room.

With 4 hoses, your Islander has both active and passive venting. Active with a blower in one exhaust hose when stopped or slowly moving. Passive has a similar low exhaust hose and vents the lowest bilge area when the boat is moving.

I know some of our Inlander guys had engine room pics showing the hoses and blower, but darned if I can find any. If you have the clam shell vents, intake air is through the forward facing vents, exhaust is the rear facing ones with the blower in one of them.

Welcome aboard and hope this helps.

This makes complete sense now - thanks! The exterior vents on each side do not seem directional. On both sides, the two hoses enter a small chamber vertically, and the exterior vent is just a plastic grill.

Thanks again for the clarification. I'm going to dig into it this afternoon, and I'll post some pics later on in case someone else has this question in the future.

 

[Ktaadn]

The blower should be in the lowest hose, the one drawing exhaust air almost under the motor where gas fumes would gather. Inline blowers are not as big as the squirrel cage type and take up less room.

With 4 hoses, your Islander has both active and passive venting. Active with a blower in one exhaust hose when stopped or slowly moving. Passive has a similar low exhaust hose and vents the lowest bilge area when the boat is moving.

I know some of our Inlander guys had engine room pics showing the hoses and blower, but darned if I can find any. If you have the clam shell vents, intake air is through the forward facing vents, exhaust is the rear facing ones with the blower in one of them.

Welcome aboard and hope this helps.

Thanks GA. I wasn't thinking about engine air - this makes sense. This is my first I/O, so I'm still on the learning curve.

I appreciate the help - thanks!

 

[Ktaadn]

UPDATE: The blower motor was found after removing the rear panel behind the port side rear seat cushion, below the battery compartment. I had to remove the doghouse screws to give me enough leeway to slide the panel out. The motor says it is a 165 CFM model. The motor was attached to the transom with two screws.

Interestingly, the vent hose was riveted to the blower motor housing, rather than band clamps, etc. My multimeter shows appropriate voltage at the leads to the motor when the dash switch is thrown, so I'm pretty confident the motor is just gone. Will replace.

Thanks all who helped me sort out how this was supposed to work!